Mathew Withau
Mathew Withau & Gaara vs. Seiko Ren is the final battle of the Search for the Book of the Gods. It is a battle between Hidden Leaf chunin and member of Team Kakashi Mathew Withau and rogue ninja and leader of Team Seiko Seiko Ren, with Gaara of Team Baki arriving later as an ally to Matt. Prelude As Seiko flees deeper into the Hall in search for the Book of the Gods, Matt pursues him. Team Kakashi and Team Seiko engage in battle in the Hall, and as Seiko locates the Book and is reading its contents, Matt makes his entry into the room. Seiko comments on him finally showing up, and Matt concurs. Seiko brings Ranritsu to his side, and he and Matt prepare to battle. Battle Seiko fires a Water Style: Giant Liquid Bullet from Ranritsu at Matt, but Matt evades it. Matt returns fire with the Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu, and Seiko counters it with a second Giant Liquid Bullet. The two techniques collide in the air and cancel each other out, and Ranritsu charges through the carnage to make a direct assault against Matt. Matt uses the Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu, but Ranritsu uses a chakra shield installed in its body to block them, and the human puppet wages an assault against Matt. Ranritsu uses built-in wrist blades, and Matt wields a kunai to fight back. The two exchange several slashes before Seiko catches Matt by surprise, using the Water Prison Jutsu and ensnaring Matt in an airtight sphere of water. As the rest of the teams battle each other in the main section of the Hall, Matt is on the verge of drowning, with no way of escaping the Water Prison Jutsu. Finally, Team Baki arrives on the scene, and Gaara uses the Sand Tsunami to free Matt, sending Seiko on the defensive at the same time. Gaara teams up with Matt to take down Seiko once and for all while their allied teams kill the rest of the members of Team Seiko. Gaara attacks Seiko with a wave of sand, but Seiko evades this only for Gaara to fire a Sand Shower at him afterwards. Seiko dodges these as well and returns fire with a volley of sharp needles on behalf of Ranritsu, but Gaara blocks them with a wall of sand. Gaara then attacks Seiko with dual sand streams, and Seiko is trapped while connection with his battle puppet is lost, causing Ranritsu to smash to pieces against the ground. Ranritsu is slowly repaired as Seiko emerges from the dust, and Matt, seeing Gaara's capability in keeping Seiko distracted, asks him to keep doing so for a few minutes. Gaara happily obliges, and Matt leaps off while Gaara and Seiko continue the battle. Gaara attacks Seiko with a barrage of sand coming from all directions, and Seiko decides to get serious. He then activates the Water Style Puppet Jutsu: Five Great Floods. The jutsu emerges with gusto, knocking away all of the sand and allowing Seiko to dominate the field. Gaara inquires about the jutsu, and Seiko explains that he just recently acquired the jutsu, having been inscribed in the Book of the Gods. Gaara attempts to combat the jutsu, but the strength of the Five Great Floods blows straight through Gaara's powers, knocking him off his feet and putting him in immediate damage. Seiko sends the Five Great Floods converging on Gaara, however a fireball intercepts one of the heads, vaporizing the water completely while four more fireballs intercept the other heads. The fireballs concoct a magnificent explosion that engulfs the Hall, and as Gaara lowers his Sand Cocoon, Matt is standing in front of him, clad in the Fire Style: Fire God Jutsu. Gaara expresses amazement at Matt's jutsu, and as Matt reveals its name, Seiko compliments him on the jutsu, asking where he learned it. Matt reminds him that they are surrounded on all sides by books and scrolls containing thousands of forbidden jutsu. Seiko expresses skepticism to Matt learning such a powerful jutsu in the short time that he and Gaara were fighting, and when Matt silently confirms that this is in fact what happened, Seiko deduces that he was right in thinking Matt had a dormant Rinnegan. Matt attacks Seiko with his enhanced abilities, and Seiko is completely defenseless as he is blasted across the room. Just as Matt is about to make a finishing blow, dozens of large blades sprout out of Seiko's body, stopping Matt instantly. The blades fire off from Seiko's body, and they all explode across the Hall, engulfing the entire room in flames. As the explosions die down, the section of the Hall that they are fighting in has been completely destroyed. The sand defenses that Gaara put up around himself and Matt recede; Gaara is uninjured, although his Sand Armor is severely damaged and he is exhausted from expending so much chakra. While the brunt of the blast was absorbed by Gaara's sand, Matt still sustained several injuries, and he is equally as exhausted as Gaara. At the same time, Seiko is standing tall, wielding both Ranritsu and his second puppet, Yamaarashi. As Seiko explains the origins of his mechanical puppet, Gaara promises that he and Matt will destroy every puppet in Seiko's possession. Seiko says that they are more than welcome to try. Gaara attacks Seiko with a wave of sand, but Seiko fires three of Yamaarashi's spikes, which intercept the sand and explode, incinerating it completely. Matt ponders that he doesn't have enough chakra for another Fire God Jutsu, and he decides to use the Fireball Jutsu. Seiko evades the jutsu and returns fire with three Giant Liquid Bullets. Matt uses the Wind Style: Giant Air Shield to block the attack, sending all of the water splashing to the ground around him and leaving him unharmed. Gaara fires four Sand Shuriken at Seiko, and they follow him across the Hall as he evades them, and he eventually destroys them with more Giant Liquid Bullets. Gaara uses the distraction to catch Seiko with his sand, throwing him down to the ground and injuring him. Seiko emerges from the dust, and he activates the Five Great Floods jutsu for the second time. The Five Great Floods attack Matt and Seiko in unison, and they are both thrown on the defensive as they struggle to evade the powerful water streams. Gaara evades the water heads, using his sand to float in the air as he attacks Seiko. As Seiko evades the attack, Matt is still on the run from the Five Great Floods, but he quickly escapes them, and he uses the Flight Jutsu to propel himself at Seiko while activating a Chidori. Seiko uses the Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu to send a dozen Water Dragons up at Matt, but Gaara intercepts them all with his sand while Matt continues his attack against Seiko. Yamaarashi rolls up into a defensive shell, but Matt goes around the puppet and makes a direct attack against Seiko. Seiko then has Ranritsu intercept Matt with its wrist blades, but Matt shatters them both with the Chidori before bisecting Seiko. However, Seiko is actually a Water Clone, and at that moment Yamaarashi uses the Puppet Jutsu: Raining Damnation. Gaara throws up a massive wall of sand between Matt and Yamaarashi, and the puppet's spikes hit the wall and detonate, blasting the sand apart and shrouding the room in smoke. Matt falls out of the smoke cloud with more injuries from the explosion, although he is saved from a potentially fatal hit by Gaara's wall of sand. Seiko attacks Matt with Ranritsu, who fires another volley of needles, but Matt dodges the assault and allows Gaara to capture the puppet with his sand. Gaara forms a Sand Coffin around Ranritsu, and then uses the Sand Burial to crush the puppet to pieces. Seiko expresses anger at the destruction of his puppet, and this distraction allows Gaara to catch him as well, enveloping the jonin in a cocoon of sand. Matt wastes no time, taking the initiative to use the Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu. The powerful fire jutsu destroys the sand, sending flames cascading down to the ground while Seiko's control of Yamaarashi fades, causing it to drop and smash apart on the ground. Seiko's body drops out of the flames and bounces into a wall, and Matt triumphantly expresses their victory. Gaara tells him to confirm the kill, and Matt comes over to Seiko, checking his vital signs. In spite of a lack of pulse, Matt uses one final Chidori to stab Seiko directly into the heart, ending the conflict at the Hall once and for all. Aftermath With all members of Team Seiko having finally been killed, the Book of the Gods is safe. The other members of Teams Kakashi and Baki arrive at the scene of the battle. Temari expresses concern for Gaara, who assures her that he is okay. Meanwhile, Matt is beaten and battered, and when Naruto Uzumaki congratulates him by patting him on the back, Matt immediately collapses. Sakura berates Naruto as she begins to heal him, and at that moment, Tsunade walks into the room. Taking in all of the damage dealt to the Hall, she says that they will have to clean it up. Gaara makes his exit with his siblings, and with Matt too injured to help, Naruto is the only one able to clean up the Hall. Category:Battle